


On Trunks and Thawing.

by FindingArendelle



Category: Frozen (2013), Frozen - Anderson-Lopez & Lopez/Lee
Genre: Family Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 05:35:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18844684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FindingArendelle/pseuds/FindingArendelle





	On Trunks and Thawing.

“Elsa… it’s okay to put them away.”

“Absolutely not.” “

"What? Why not?”

“I am the queen and these are royal things.”

Anna rolled her eyes before bursting into a giggle. “They are not royal things.”

A stubborn pout. “Yes, they are.”

“Elsa.”

Her Majesty, the Queen of Arendelle, heir to all of the Northern lands, was standing next to a wooden trunk littered with what seemed to be a pile of random items and trinkets of various kinds. A poorly sewn stuffed animal in the shape of a snowman, colorful papers of different sizes filled with a child’s haphazard handwriting, an abundance of…junk in plain sight for Anna to see from where she was stood.

In Elsa’s hands was a brown chocolate box with the words Cioccolato written on it in gold, fancy letters–– a present Anna had given her after returning from one of her diplomatic duties in Italy. Baffled by Elsa’s unexpected luggage, Anna wasn’t quick to recognize the object that she was holding because it was something that she had given her over a year ago…or was it two years ago?

The memory of it eluded her. She had brought Elsa presents from her trips all over the world, and she didn’t exactly keep track of each item. It seemed that most of the things from Elsa’s trunk were things from and of Anna. The trunk was bursting with an array of gifts and letters and handmade toys– presents that the royal princess had created and chosen mostly out of impulse because they reminded her of her sister.

Over the years, these gifts became more specific and carefully chosen. Such were little ornaments and chocolates and books that she thought Elsa would enjoy. Travel souvenirs that she knew would make Elsa’s face split into an unadulterated smile.

Anything and everything that could possibly make her giggle. 110% of the time, those seemingly random things had succeeded in making the queen’s heart soar. 200% of the time, Anna wondered if it was possible to take a ship or two—or an armada? No, Elsa and neighboring countries wouldn’t like that—with her whenever she went away to make space for more presents.

All she had ever wanted was to make Elsa laugh and smile. As simple as that. Her sister, in all her majesty and ethereal grace, increased in radiance and beauty whenever she exuded joy. Happier. Beautiful-er. The way those blue eyes lit up like Christmas lights, the gasps of surprise and wonder, the hugs and a billion thank you’s that followed were enough to make Anna ecstatic for weeks at a time.

It was Anna’s personal mission to gather all the things that she knew could make Elsa happy, and a part of that quest was finding the finest chocolates from different cities and countries outside of Arendelle’s borders.

“Elsa, if you want another box of those chocolates, we can ask Kai to have them delivered here,” Anna suggested while the queen stroked the empty box gingerly with a finger like it was her most prized possession. Feeling her face burn—a foreign sensation that she was still getting used to–– Elsa lowered her gaze, her brows drawing together with worry and with a slight hint of…embarrassment?

“No, thank you. I’m satisfied with this,” Elsa replied quickly, eyes boring into the box perched in her hands, avoiding Anna’s confused gaze. Shame had started to worm its way into her mind to rebuke her for being ridiculous. She probably looked foolish in front of her sister—immature and odd. Painfully strange and painfully pathetic. The brief silence that followed was excruciating as Elsa held her breath in, waiting for a response that could either break her or send her into panic mode. She never should’ve shown Anna her trunk.

_Anna probably thinks I’m––_

But before she could succumb to those nagging thoughts of worry and assume the worst, Anna continued to show her interest in the trunk, interrupting Elsa’s inner and derailing monologue. Whether or not Anna could sense Elsa’s growing anxiety, it was put on pause because of her burning curiosity.

“That empty chocolate box,” Anna pointed, “Is that the one that I’ve brought back from Milan?”

Elsa could feel her blush searing through her cheeks.

“Yes…”

Anna could only blink in confusion. Once. And then twice.

“That was…that’s from––Elsa, did you keep every single box?” she asked with amusement in her tone, eyes searching for her sister who was adamant in keeping her head lowered.

A pause. And then: “They’re presents from you. I… I want to keep them forever,” the queen squeaked, wincing at how foolish she must have sounded while imagining Anna grinning massively at her.

She wasn’t wrong, and she still refused to look up.

Anna wanted to hug her tightly right there and then. But before she could open her mouth to reply to her sister’s quiet yet adorable confession, a sprinkle of flurries had started to bloom out of thin air, and the sudden drop in temperature became palpable in the blink of an eye. She held back a shudder, took a determined step forward, and then she rested her hands on both sides of Elsa’s arms. Slowly and then gently, but not so much to show that she was cautious or afraid. “Hey,” she whispered, lowering her glance to meet Elsa’s eye-level, forcing the other to finally look at her, “I’m happy that you’ve kept all of them. I just didn’t expect it, that’s all.”

Elsa stirred at that. Finally lifting her head to face Anna, she raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

It was Anna’s turn to blush. “I didn’t think that they would be that important,” she mumbled, “I feel like we’re still getting to know each other because—you know—we’ve been apart for a long time. To be honest, I’m not even sure if I’m getting the right things most of the time. I just wanna see you happy and…I’m just surprised that you like them…all of them, it seems.”

 _Wait…what?_ It took everything within Elsa to keep her hands from freezing the box and her entire bedroom. It suddenly dawned on her that the reason why Anna kept acquiring presents was that she was…overcompensating? Could it be… that her sister was trying to win her favor although she was the one who had framed her world with the sole purpose of making Anna happy?

Elsa pressed her lips together after what looked like a moment of contemplation. Parting them ever so slightly, she struggled to find the words to say. She was still trying to get used to this concept of sharing her feelings and just talking to someone, and it felt so blissfully strange most days to see Anna’s face and hear her voice on a daily basis. Anna. The magic one.

The sun. Her sun was doing everything in her power to please her… without realizing Elsa’s real delight—in all of its complexity and beauty—lies in the hands of one person. The very same person that was standing awkwardly in front of her with a dopey grin.

Stilling the crashing waves of uncertainty that pooled within her chest, Elsa forced a small smile, and then she loosened her grip on the box. “It’s just that…” she started, rosy cheeks betraying her stoic expression that she had been trying so hard to maintain, “each gift means so much to me no matter how small or big they are. I know that seems silly, what with me being a queen and whatnot, but…they were from you,” she said before finally smiling that radiant smile that Anna loved so dearly, bright blue eyes brimming with gratefulness like she had been given another lifetime to live. Anna opened her mouth to say something, only to be refrained from doing so when Elsa raised a hand, a gesture Anna knew so well: the hand of the queen who demanded all of your attention. “You…you thought about me when you decided to get me this box of my favorite chocolate, and that quill from Corona, and… and that lovely chessboard from Motu Nui. Even the wrapping had thought put into it and I guess I still don’t quite understand why or how you do it. How you just… know me, after all that time apart and how you still think of me.”

Anna could only stare in awe. She didn’t expect that at all. She had seen Elsa in her moments of transparency but not like this. The queen had her way of controlling her emotions and locking them away as if they were never there, the heaviness of the crown leaving her no choice but to stand tall and unshakeable. Impenetrable even by her own demons. But this… this person that was standing in front of Anna was not that queen. It was simply a girl with a worn out box in her hands, quietly yet longingly seeking for acceptance for being who she really was: desperate for love, wounded, and craving for affection. And she was nowhere near finished talking, the most Anna had heard from her since the day that they had found each other again––or ever at all, if she was truly being honest.

Slowly pulling the box to her chest like a life preserver, Elsa pursed her lips, eyes gleaming with stubborn, stubborn tears that refused to dissipate. For someone who was able to summon ice and give life to inanimate snowmen, she found it increasingly hard to hold back her tears nowadays. She had noticed this shift when she started to open up more. Receive hugs more. Receive love more.

Was that what healing meant? All your sorrows and darkest thoughts and overwhelming feelings spilling and exposed in the form of tears? She should have known better for she was someone who had spent countless days and nights crying. But in front of Anna? It was something that she would never truly get used to.

An intake of breath. Exhale. “I wish I had said this sooner but… I’m glad you didn’t stop knocking on my door all those years even though you had every reason to write me off and walk away. I don’t deserve these gifts. I don’t deserve you.”

Thinking before saying something was not exactly Anna’s strong suit. But all she could do was watch her sister in her hunched posture, her arms drawn in on herself with the box in her center, vulnerable. Before she could even process them and understand the gravity of their meaning and intention, Anna was already overwhelmed with so much emotion and so many words hanging on the tip of her tongue. She was so sure that she was going to burst from inside to outside, but with all of that and more, all she could end up managing was a clear, unwavering, and firm “I love you.”

And just like that, the queen dissolved into a puddle. Elsa brushed her tears away with the edge of her sleeve. “I know,” she sniffled, “and I’ll never really know why.”

Anna couldn’t help but laugh. “Elsa, you stinker. I love you. You deserve the world and more and I will never stop trying to show you that even if it takes forever. That’s like, a long time but…” she trailed off, pondering, smiling, “you’re worth it. So, so worth it.” Before Anna knew it, the room no longer felt like it was covered in frost, and the flurries suspended in midair had disappeared just as fast as they came. Elsa could only hug her in response and Anna happily embraced her back, grateful and content with having her sister in her arms. With her entire form facing Elsa’s wall, Anna took notice of the paintings that she had not seen before upon her arrival. Scanning not one, but a multitude of them that hung proudly in very expensive frames on Elsa’s ridiculously spacious wall, her face distorted into a cringe as she drops her jaw to the floor.

_No. Freaking. Way._

“Elsa?”

“Hmm?” the other hummed in reply, chin still resting on Anna’s shoulder.

“Did you…are those… are those my drawings hanging on your wall?” Anna stared at the framed ‘paintings’ in horror, finally releasing her hold on Elsa as she shuffled toward the edge of Elsa’s room to have a closer look at her five-year-old hand’s poor attempt at art immortalized in the Queen of Arendelle’s chambers.

Silence.

“…Yes?”

_“Elsa!!!”_


End file.
